Fugitive of Ichimaara
by Heartless Shinra Alchemist
Summary: After the fall of Ba Sing Se, the Aang Gaang seek refuge in a town that has no fear of the Fire Nation. There, they find a firebending teacher for Aang with deep ties to the exiled Prince Zuko. Rated for violence only, no lemons! ZukoxOC


A/N: Hello, this is Shinra. Here it is, my very first Avatar fanfic! Yes, and I actually have a plotline for this one, instead of just typing it as I go with all my other fics! Also, a note on the swancat...you know how all the animals in Avatar are a mix of two different Earth species? Well, I found the perfect way to get a winged cat in here! Heh. So...yeah. If the new season of Avatar starts before I finish this fic, oh well! P

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They flew. Flew from the charred remains of the once-great Ba Sing Se. But maybe...it hadn't been as great as they had thought. The Earth King had been controlled by his own network of spies. He had been oblivious to the brainwashing that happened right under his nose. But stranger was the spies' wish to cover up the knowlege of the war with the Fire Nation. To Aang, however, these were just the less important problems. He woke up a day after Katara had used the sacred water to heal him. Awaking to the feel of wind on his face, he thought that he was having another dream about flying. But when he heard Sokka's soft complaining, he knew that he was awake.

"Can we stop? My back aches..." Aang sat up, startling all but Toph, who sat in her usual corner of the saddle, her clouded eyes staring at nothing.

"Aang!" Katara cried, flinging herself onto him and hugging him with crushing force. He would've blushed if she hadn't squeezed the raw wound on his back.

"Ow!" he hollered, hands flying to the searing pain in his back. Katara let go of him at once, her eyes worried.

"Turn around," she said nrvously. Aang did as he was told, shivering as she lifted the back of his shirt. He heard her gasp in half pity and half horror.

"What?" he asked, nervously trying to get a glance at the wound on his back. As he was trying frantically to look at his back, he caught a glimpse of Katara's face. It held more anger in it than he had ever seen before, and even her hands were shaking from the pent-up fury.

"Azula...will...pay." she muttered grimly. She pulled Aang's shirt down with a sigh and turned to Sokka. "Sokka, isn't there a town somewhere around here?" Sokka pulled out a map from his bag.

"Hmm...yeah. It should be a few hours away, at the most. Why?" Sokka was obviously confused at his sister's anger. Katara threw herself down next to Aang with a sigh. Turning to him, she smiled apologetically.

"Sorry, Aang, but you're gonna have to wait before I can heal you," she said, trying her best to sound positive. That was when Toph decided to cut in.

"Didn't you already heal him?" she asked. Katara laughed bitterly.

"Yeah, but...I need to heal him a bit more. I saved him from dying, but he's still got a really bad scar that I need to take care of." Toph nodded and returned to whatever thoughts she may have been thinking. Aang turned to Katara, unnerved.

"Scar?" he asked, fearful. Katara nodded.

"Yes. I can't make it go away without the sacred water, but I can ease the pain a little. I need water to do that, though. And we all need to rest," she said, casting a nervous eye at the exausted group before her. Even Momo's large, batty ears were drooping from exaustion. Following Katara's gaze, Aang smiled.

"Katara, you and the others get some sleep. I'll take care of the landing and all that." Aang felt immensley happy at Katara's thankful smile. Aang clambered up to the front of the saddle, grabbing Appa's reins. He turned to say goodnight to Katara, but found her already alseep, Momo curled up like a cat in her arms. The sight was so adorable, Aang had to supress a giggle. "She'd make a good mother..." he muttered, thinking of a future he knew might never happen.

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Aang spotted the small town below them a few hours later. Pulling gently on Appa's reins, he coaxed the flying bison into descending, careful not to go too fast and wake the others up. Appa landed lightly in a small copse of trees on the edge of the town. Aang hopped into the other portion of the saddle, gently prodding Sokka awake.

"Hey, Sokka? We're here..." he whispered. Sokka shook his head groggily, worming his way out of his sleeping bag.

"Let me guess...you woke me up first?" he asked, his voice raspy from disuse. Aang nodded and tiptoed to Toph, who woke up before Aang even opened his mouth.

"I'm up, Twinkle Toes," she said, standing up to strech. Her loud and very rude yawn ended up waking up the Earth King, who pulled himself up immediately, his eyes alert. A groan and a yawn from behind him told Aang that Sokka had just woken up Katara. With all of them awake and accounted for, Aang jumped off of Appa, grabbing his stuff with him. Katara and Toph followed suit, while Sokka helped the Earth King off of the flying bison's back.

"Okay," Toph said, rubbing her hands together. "Let's get to town, shall we?" Katara nodded and the two girls proceeded out of the trees. Aang cast a worried glance at Sokka and the Earth King, both of which just laughed and waved Aang off. Nodding, Aang ran off after the two girls. He used his airbending to empower his feet a little, so he caught up with the two in no time. They were discussing something that Aang couldn't hear, and as soon as he appeared, they shut up.

"What?" he asked, glancing at Katara's blushing face. "What is it?" Toph shook her head.

"It's nothing, Twinkle Toes. Don't worry your little head over it, okay?" Aang just shrugged and matched his swift walk to Toph and Katara's leisurely pace. Within minutes, the three of them had arrived into the actual town. Surprisingly enough, it was a bustling Earth Kingdom town, with people all over the streets. None of them seemed to have the usual worried looks on their faces, now that the Fire Nation was everywhere. In fact, they all seemed very happy, their faces content for the most part. Katara cast Aang a confused glance.

"Am I the only one who sees this as a little...odd?" she asked. Aang nodded.

"Yeah, they're so...happy. It's like they don't even know that the Fire Nation is right around the corner!" Toph stomped her foot in frustration.

"It's times like these that I wish I wasn't blind," she grumbled, storming into the large crowd. With a cry of worry, Aang and Katara followed the grumpy earthbender, only to find her standing at a street vendor, asking for water. He handed her a small leather canteen, which she paid for with a few heavy coins. Still grumbling, she stomped forward, tossing the canteen at the flustered waterbender. "You're right," she muttered. "They _are _ too cheerful. There's something fishy about this town..." Just then a cry erupted fromsomewhere within the crowd.

"It's the Earth King!" With a groan, the three benders pivoted to see Sokka and the Earth King standing in the middle of a large ring of civillians. Many were crying praises to the King, while others were asking who the weird kid was. To this, Sokka began to turn red.

"I'm Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe!" he yelled loudly. The crowd, however, just ignored him, rushing in to shake the Earth King's hand or to ask him about Ba Sing Se. Before he had to answer anything all that painful, though, a large group of armored men came in, bowing to the Earth King.

"Hello, your highness. My name is Maachang Izuma. Welcome to the town of Ichimaara!" one of them said, extending an arm to the King. "We are to escort you and your...companion to the mayor of this town. He wishes to dine with you, if possible, Your Majesty." The Earth King laughed nervously.

"Well, uhm...do you have room for my other companions?" he asked nervously. Maachang looked around, confused.

"What other companions, Your Majesty?" he asked, slightly bemused. Sokka pointed nervously to where Aang, Katara, and Toph were standing. Maachang saw Aang's tatoo on the forehead and smiled. "Ah! What a wonderous day for Ichimaara! We have the Avatar and the Earth King dining with us tonight!" He spread his arms wide, beckoning for Aang and the others to come forward. They did so, albeit cautiously, and stood close to Sokka and the Earth King. At that, the armored men turned, the crowd parting to make way as the group proceeded towards a large, fancy looking building.

"I've got a bad feeling abou this..." Sokka muttered.

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Maachang had them seated in a large dining room, in front of a table that looked large enough to seat the whole of the Southern Water Tribe. Aang also noticed, to his suspiscion, that the Earth King was seated towards the head of the table, separated from the rest of them. Even Aang was a fair distance away from where the mayor was to sit. This worried him. What kind of mayor thought himself more important than the Avatar? At that moment, the large, ceremonial door on the other side of the room was opened, making a large grating sound as it scraped the floor. Maachang walked in, bowing to the Earth King.

"Honored guests..."

_Well, at least he didn't say guest..._ Aang thought, uncharacteristically grumpy.

"The Lord Baka Hiroshimu, mayor of Ichimaara, welcomes you!" With that, a man with large green robes that swept the ground walked in. Suprisingly, the man was quite young, somewhere in his twenties. He began to laugh as he noticed the seating arrangements. His grey eyes full of mirth, he turned to Maachang.

"Maachang, don't be so stuffy. It's not like this is some huge banquet," he said. Turning, he smiled at Aang. "Avatar, you and your friends please come sit closer. We do not need five empty seats between us while we talk!" Again, he turned to his guard. "Maachang, please inoform the cooks if you have not already done so." Maachang began to frown.

"But sir-" he began to protest but the young mayor stopped him.

"I'll be fine. I do not think that the Eath King or the Avatar mean me harm." His voice was light, but the commanding undertone made sure that Maachang knew that there was no space for arguement. Maachang nodded stiffly and exited the room, pulling the door closed behind him. With a laugh, the mayor sat down in his chair at the head of the table. The others moved forward, so that the whole end of the table was crowded.

"Lord Hi-" Katara began, but the mayor stopped her with a raised hand.

"Please, don't call me that. Just call me Baka." He glanced at her necklace curiously. "Are you Katara of the Southern Water Tribe?" he asked, curious. He smiled at her approving nod. "I've always wanted to meet you. It is known that you are the greatest female waterbender who has ever lived!" Katara blushed at his praise.

"Well, I am the only female waterbending master now, but I'm not sure if I'm the greatest..." Baka smiled at her humbleness, then turned his attention to Toph.

"And you," he said, his voice more confident. "are Toph, the great earthbender. It is also rumored that you are the Blind Bandit, no?" Toph nodded absently. Baka laughed. "Well, I have you to thank. I betted quite a lot of money among my noble friends on you. Fortunately for me I was...preoccupied the day that the Avatar beat you at the earthbending tournament. I may have lost a fair amount of money, then." Toph smiled a little, but said nothing. With that, Baka turned to Aang with a smile. "And of course, you're the Avatar...but...where is the warrior Sokka?" He looked around the room, eyes completely skipping over the dumbfounded Sokka sitting next to Toph.

"I'm right here!" he yelled when he had found his voice. Baka turned to him, an eyebrow raised.

"But...the warrior of the Southern Water Tribe is supposed to be seven feet tall..." he said, amused. "I guess that not all rumors are true," he laughed. Toph laughed alongside the mayor.

"Believe me, Sokka is _not _seven feet tall," she giggled. Sokka frowned at her.

"Excuse me, but I'm not the blind one," he muttered. If Toph heard him, she ignored his comment. At that moment, a large group of servants came in, laden with trays of various soups, breads, fruits, and (to Sokka's pleasure) meats. As one of them passed, Baka stopped her. He whispered something in the servant's ear and she nodded. She pulled a tray laden with a mixture of food right out of Sokka's face and left, turning down a different hallway than the rest of the servants. Hearing Sokka whine, Toph shoved a hunk of meat from the tray in front of her onto his plate.

"Eat and shut up," she commanded. Sokka did not need to be told twice. As Sokka and the others began to eat, Aang looked up at Baka, who also was not eating.

"Baka...why is this town so peaceful and happy? Haven't they heard of the fall of Ba Sing Se?" he asked. Baka's face darkened for a moment. Everyone, even Sokka, looked up to hear his answer. Seeing the look on all their faces, Baka sighed.

"Three years ago, I captured a dangerous fugitive of the Fire Nation. I soon learned that they wanted her locked up at all costs, so I...used her as a barganing piece. In return for my imprisonment of her, they swore never to attack this town. For some reason, they do not want her running about, but can't capture her themselves. I used that to my advantage..." From the tone of his voice, Aang knew the man was ashamed. But Aang understood why the man did it.

"Don't worry," he said, smiling at Baka. "You did what you could for your city. And now, this is a safe place for refugees to hide," he said. Baka smiled in appreciation.

"Thank you, Avatar. Are you all done?" Toph smacked Sokka as he began to shake his head, 'no'. He immediately began to nod enthusiastically. Baka laughed and walked towards the large doors. "Then follow me. I'll show you all to your rooms."

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To Aang's amazement, Baka had given them all seperate rooms. 'I don't have many guests now...' he had said. Aang's room was large and spacious, with a large screen door that lead into the garden. He began to unpack his bag, stashing his staff, sleeping bag, and pack under the large bed he was given. With a sigh of relief, he flopped onto the bed and began to stare at the celing. Within seconds, he was bored and sent a gush of air towards the screen door, blowing it open.

The garden was large, including a large pond with a foreign tree called 'sakura' growing by its banks. Scents of flowers wafted through the room, making Aang want to go outside. He got up and padded over to the door, but stopped as he saw a shadow flit across the lawn. He watched it as it slowed down and then stepped into the moolight, approaching the pond. The shadow was actually a young woman in a dark cloak. Her hair was long and dark, so long that Aang began to get her hair confused with the cloak. Her skin was pale, but there was a dark bruise on one of her cheeks. At her side, padding carefully across the wet grass, was a swancat. The two of them stopped at the edge of the pond, the swancat lapping up water. Suddenly, the woman looked up, directly at Aang. Her amber eyes were filled with fear. Wait...amber? Aang blinked. Amber eyes meant Fire Nation! But the woman disappeared right after Aang had blinked, so he couldn't track her down for questioning. Shrugging and suddenly very tired, Aang shut the sliding door and collapsed onto his bed, cringing a little as his wound flared in pain. _Maybe I shouldnt've told Katara to wait until tomorrow to heal me, _ he thought. _Oh, well, _ he mentally shrugged.

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Warm sunlight was what woke Aang up. He sat up groggily, trying to remeber his dream. It had been about a girl in the garden... Oh, wait. That wasn't a dream. It was real! Shrugging, Aang leaned over to grab his clothes from his pack under his bed. His back flared in pain, but he ignored it as he obstinately grabbed his pack and snatched his clothes out of it. He threw them onto his body roughly, not bothering to put on his shoes. Aang left his room, shutting the door as quietly as possible. Padding down the deserted halls, he made his way to Katara's room. He opened the door cautiously, but when no order to get out was made, he slipped into the room. Her room opened into the garden as well, and the screen door was open. Katara was nowhere to be found. Sighing, Aang went out the door, stepping into the wet grass of the garden. He made his way past rows of odd vegetables that looked like carrots, only the leaves were purple. As he approached the pond, he saw someone standing in the middle of the pond, making a large glob of water twist around in the air in an intricate dance. Unable to move his eyes from the sight, Aang stopped. Katara's bending was more graceful than his, more flowing. His was more sudden and powerful, using the least amount of water possible to the maximum effect. Katara always praised him for it, but he wished that his bending was more like hers. He sat there, entranced, until Katara noticed him. Smiling, she let the water sink slowly into the pond and made her way to the edge of the pond. Aang moved forward, blushing slightly. Now that the bending was done, he was a little embarrassed at the fact that he had been staring at her so blatantly.

"Hi, Katara," he said, blushing. She opened her mouth to say something, but the loud voice of Maachang drowned out hers.

"Avatar!" he called. Aang and Katara turned to see the armored guard standing at the screen door that lead into Aang's room. Sighing, Aang created an air scooter and sped over to where Maachang stood.

"What is it, sir?" he asked. Maachang bowed politely before speaking.

"Avatar, the Lord Hiroshimu has a gift for you," he said quietly. He opened the sliding door, gesturing for Aang to enter. Aang did so and waited as Maachang shut the sliding door behind them. The door that led into the hallway was open and two more armored guards waited there, both holding spears. When the sliding door was shut, Maachang nodded to the two guards. "Bring her in," he said. One of the guards left the room for a minute, returning almost immediately with a young woman in shackles. With horror, Aang realized it was the same Fire Nation woman he had seen in the garden the night before. Now without the cloak, Aang could see that more than just her cheek was bruised. There were purple marks down her arms and on her legs, along with countless scabs and scars. Her hands were especially scarred. The armored man shoved the girl into the room, a look of discust on his face. She stumbled and fell to her knees. Looking up into Aang's grey eyes, she bowed onto the floor.

"Avatar, I am Raezallia, the Fire Nation outcast. I am to be your firebending teacher."

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A/N: So, what do you think? Is it okay? I'll continue writing, but I'm not updating until I get at least five reviews. P You want more, review!


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